“With rapid development in the fields of information technology and hardware, the world is about to witness a fourth industrial revolution,” Sitharaman said on Friday.

The minister, in a press statement, said that the power of big data, high computing capacity, artificial intelligence and analytics will be used to digitise manufacturing in India.

A panel comprising experts, academics and researchers has been formed to explore the possibilities to leverage artificial intelligence for development across various fields.

The taskforce is headed by V Kamakoti of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and includes 17 more members from various government departments and private companies such as HCL Technology and Tata Consultancy Services.

The commerce ministry has also called for participation from government think tank NITI Aayog, Defence Research and Development Organisation, electronics and IT ministry as well as the department of science and technology in this effort.